Part 4

They got up and walked together till they came to the churchyard. “Lift the tombstone,” said the gentleman. He raised the tombstone and they went in. “Go down the stairs,” said the gentleman. They went down together till they came to the door; and it was opened, and they went into the kitchen. There were two old women sitting by the fire. “Rise,” said the gentleman to one of them, “and get dinner ready for us.” She rose and took some small potatoes.

“Have you nothing for us for dinner but that sort?” said the gentleman.

“I have not,” said the woman.

“As you have not, keep them.”

“Rise you,” said he to the second woman, “and get ready dinner for us.”

She rose and took some meal and husks.

“Have you nothing for us but that sort?”

“I have not,” said she.

“As you have not, keep them.”

He went up the stairs and knocked at a door. There came out a beautiful woman in a silk dress, and it ornamented with gold from the sole of her foot to the crown of her head. She asked him what he wanted. He asked her if she could get dinner for himself and the stranger. She said she could. She laid a dinner before them fit for a king. And when they had eaten and drunk plenty, the gentleman asked if he knew the reason why she was able to give them such a dinner.

“I don’t know,” said the man; “but tell me if it is your pleasure.”

“When I was alive I was married three times, and the first wife I had never gave anything to a poor man except little potatoes; and she must live on them herself till the day of judgment. The second wife, whenever any one asked alms of her, never gave anything but meal and husks; and she will be no better off herself, nor any one else who asks of her, till the day of judgment. The third wife, who got the dinner for us—she could give us everything from the first.”

“Why is that?” said the man.

“Because she never spared of anything she had, but would give it to a poor man; and she will have of that kind till the day of judgment.”

“Come with me till you see my dwelling,” said the gentleman. There were outhouses and stables and woods around the house; and, to speak the truth, he was in the prettiest place ever I saw with my eyes. “Come inside with me,” said he to the man; and I was not long within when there came a piper, and he told him to play, and he was not long playing when the house was filled with men and women. They began dancing. When part of the night was spent, I thought I would go and sleep. I arose and went to sleep; and when I awoke in the morning I could see nothing of the house or anything in the place.

_THE STORY OF BIOULTACH, SON OF THE HIGH KING OF ERIN._

_Narrator, TERENCE DAVIS, Renvyle, co. Galway._

There was a king in Erin long ago, and long ago it was. He had a pair of sons, Bioultach and Maunus. Bioultach was the elder. His father took him from school. The son said to him, “Will you give me no more schooling?”

“I will not give. I think you have enough learning, and I am but poor.”

“I give you the quarters of the heaven, of the sea, and of the land, against my body and my soul, that a second meal I will not eat at the one table, that a second night I will not sleep in the one bed, till I go to seek my fortune.”

“Oh, my son! evil is the oath you have taken, and it were better for you to watch over Erin. I think it were worth your while to stay at home, for when you go some other nation will come and cut it off.”

“Oh! it is one to me.”

He rose exceeding bright on the morning of the morrow. He rubbed palm to poll and palm to forehead, to make it be seen that he was the best in beauty and in courage. He struck down to the sea. He struck a plank on this side and a plank on that till he made a ship spacious and capacious. He struck on board the ship, and spent four nights and four days, till he landed in Spain without permission.

The King of Spain was out of doors, and he saw the ship coming in without permission. He sent a messenger down to ask who was the champion.

The messenger came back and said to the king, “There is but one man on board, and handsomest of all men that ever I saw is he.”

“Oh! give him an invitation to the court.”

The messenger went and gave the invitation. Bioultach spent a day and a year at the court.

“Well,” said the king, “you are at my court for a year, and I have never asked who you are.”

“If you asked me I would have told you. Bioultach am I, son of the High King of Erin, who left my father’s court and pleasant home, since I thought little of the learning he was giving me; and I think I will stay here no longer.”

“I don’t know,” said the king, “where you will go; but I believe there is not a place in the world better than Greece, for there is no champion at all, who is a good man, that it is not in Greece he is, in company with the king.”

Bioultach took leave of the king, and raised his ship with him, and stopped not till he came to Greece. The King of Greece was on a height (above the sea), and with him a pair of champions—his own son, Splendour, and Splendour-of-the-Sun, son of the King of the Castle of the Stream.

“Go down,” said the king to Splendour-of-the-Sun, “and bring me word who is the champion that has come in without permission.”

He went down at the command of the king, and saluted the man in the ship. Said he, “The king has sent me to get word who you are.”

“Well, I never took from my ship word to give you, unless you get it from me by force.”

“I would get it if I had you here.”

“I will be there now, but I must secure my ship, that neither storm nor sun may hurt her.”

Bioultach went out, and he and the man on shore took hold of each other. Bioultach threw him and tied him tightly, and he fastened the five knots together, and threw him behind him. The king was looking on.

“Go down, Splendour, son of the King of Greece,” said he, “and bring me word who is the champion that has tied the other man.”

The son of the King of Greece went down, and he and Bioultach took hold of each other, and Bioultach threw him and tied him more tightly than the other, and laid him along with him. The king had nothing for it but to send a messenger down with a branch of green yew. When Bioultach saw the yew coming, he loosed the men, and the messengers bade him come with them to the palace. Bioultach went with them, and he spent a day and a year with the King of Greece, learning everything the king could teach him, and the king never asked who he was or whence he came. But at the end of a year the king asked,—

“It were good to me to know your name. It was not good to me to put any telling on you; but now I have a desire you should tell me who you are.”

“Oh, I will tell you, and a thousand welcomes. If you asked me at first I would have told you. Bioultach am I, son of the High King of Erin, who left my father’s court and pleasant home, since I thought little of the learning he was giving me, and I spent a year with the King of Spain before I came here.”

Bioultach had a brother, who was but little when he went away. When he grew big he asked the king,—

“Dada, where went my brother?”

“I know not,” said the king. “I never found out, either by praying or by paying.”

“Why did he go away?”

“Because he thought little of the learning I was giving him.”

“I give you the quarters of heaven, of the earth, and of the sea, against my body and my soul, that a second night I will not sleep in one bed, that a second meal at the one table I will not eat, till I go in search of him.”

“Oh, my son, evil is the oath you have taken, and it were better for you to stay in Erin, nor leave it altogether without ah heir.”

“More to me is my brother than all Erin.”

When Maunus arose in the morning he took leave of his father, and went down to the sea, and went on board ship, and stopped not till he came to Spain. He spent a day and a year there. The king asked him,—

“Whence are you? I would like to get word of you.”

“Oh, you will get it. Maunus am I, son of the High King of Erin, who left the court and pleasant home of my father a year since, yesterday, to search for my brother, Bioultach.”

“Oh,” said the king, “Bioultach spent a day and year with me here, and if he is alive he is with the King of Greece.”

“I will wait no longer till I see him.”

“Oh,” said the king, “if you reach Greece, do not rise in without permission, for you have no knowledge how to handle a sword.”

When Maunus came to Greece he ran in without permission. The King of Greece was out of doors, and Bioultach and Splendour, son of the King of Greece, and Splendour-of-the-Sun, son of the King of the Castle of the Stream.

“Oh, Bioultach, to-day it is three years and a day since you landed, and since then not a ship has come in without permission, and a ship has come in without permission to-day. Go down, Splendour-of-the-Sun, and get me knowledge who is the champion.”

“By my soul, I will not go. Three years from to-day Bioultach tied me, and I have never been well since then.”

“Go down, Splendour, and bring me word who is the champion.”

“I will not go. It was not I whom you told to go at first. If it were, I would have gone.”

“I believe it is I myself must go.”

Splendour-of-the-Sun went down, and he and the man on board the ship saluted each other. “Whether you are of the noble or ignoble of the world, whence are you?”

“Never from my ship have I given tidings to tell of me till they were got from me by force.”

“Oh! I would do that same if I had you here.”

“Oh! it is soon I will be there; but I must secure my ship, that sun may not burn nor shingle hurt her.”

Maunus went out, and the two champions took hold of each other. Maunus threw the other, and as he never wrestled with a man before, this is what he made with him—a ball, and he threw him behind him.

“Oh!” said the king, “Splendour, go down now; he is killed yonder.”

Splendour, son of the King of Greece, went down, and Maunus tied him as he did the other man; and the king cried to Bioultach, “Thy friendship and thy fealty; let not the sway from Greece, for I have no other but you.”

“If you asked me at first I would have gone.”

“If I had twelve sons I would send them before you.”

“I will go now.”

Bioultach went down, and he and Maunus saluted each other.

“Of the noble or ignoble of the world, whence are you?”

“I never from my ship gave tidings to tell of me, unless you take them by force.”

“I will take them if I can.”

Bioultach and Maunus caught hold of each other, and they spent a long part of the day, and neither of them threw the other. Said Bioultach, “To me it is not good at all to be like this. Let us get swords for each.”

“To me it is no worse, if to you it is fine.”

“It were good to me if you would tell me who you are.”

“I will not tell you. But if you desire to fight, you will get that.”

“It is not good to me to be fighting with you.”

“Well, I will not tell you who I am.”

Bioultach got a sword, and Maunus another, and they went fighting. Bioultach was wounding him with the sword, as Maunus did not know how to use it.

“It is not good to me to wound you, and it were good to me if you would tell me who you are. I could have killed you twice; but it is anguish on me to kill you.”

“Well, I never held a sword until to-day, and if I am wounded my skill increases; and do not spare me, as I will not spare you if I get one chance at you.”

They fought for another while.

“Oh! it was good to me,” said Bioultach, “you should tell me who you are, for I do not find it in my heart to be fighting with you.”

“Oh,” said Maunus, “is it not great the asking you have after my name? But do you tell me who you are.”

“Oh, I have not hidden my name, ever. Bioultach am I, son of the High King of Erin, who left my father’s court and pleasant home four years and a day since, yesterday.”

“Well,” said Maunus, “had you a brother?”

“I had never but one brother, and sorry I am he is not so big as you yet.”

“Whether he is big or little, it is he that has been fighting with you since morning.”

“Oh,” said Bioultach, “it cannot be that you are Maunus.”

They embraced one another, and Bioultach was weeping and kissing his brother. When the King of Greece came in among the men—“Oh, Bioultach, what ails you?”

“My king and my lord, I am fighting with my brother since morning; and if I killed him, I would do nothing but put my sword through my heart.”

“Oh, Bioultach, did you not know there was not another man able to fight with you but he?”

“I thought he was not yet so big.”

That was the time Maunus loosed the men, and they were only just alive. The king took them all with him—Bioultach and Maunus, and Splendour son of the King of Greece, and Splendour-of-the-Sun. They went to the court of the High King of Greece.

Bioultach rose in the morning, and he and Maunus went into the garden, and he began to ask Maunus how were his father and his mother and his sister, and how was Erin. But the High King of Greece had a daughter, and she was in a cloister in the garden. Maunus saw her going by, as a whiz of wind would go. “Oh, Bioultach, do you see that beautiful woman?”

“I do not see. She does not concern us. Perhaps she will never come by again.”

“Oh, Bioultach, I have never seen a woman as beautiful as she.”

“Well, you can see her no more. She goes by only once in a year.”

“I shall not live if I don’t get another sight of her.”

“Oh! I am sorry I ever saw you; but if you had an hour of her company you would ask no more?”

“I would not ask.”

Bioultach turned a key in the door, and let in Maunus, who spent two hours and a-half inside.

“Maunus, are you coming out?”

“Did you not promise me an hour?”

“I have given you two hours and a-half. Be coming out now.”

“I will not come. But I must get that woman in marriage, or I will not leave a head on you or on the king.”

“Oh, wait patiently till I tell you who she is.”

“Make haste and ask her of the king.”

Bioultach went in and threw himself on his knees before the king. “Bioultach,” said the king, “what is it you want? It cannot be that it is that hard-fortuned daughter of mine that Maunus has seen.”

“Oh, it is she; and he says that unless he gets her in marriage he will not leave a head on yourself or on me.”

“Can this be possible? But bid him to come in that I may see him and tell him of her doings, and if he is content I will give her to him, and a thousand welcomes; but let him have neither blame nor censure for me or you.”

Bioultach went out to Maunus.

“Ha, Bioultach, have you got the woman?”

“I have got. But rise and come to the king, and he will tell you how she has lived.”

Maunus went in to the king.

“Ha, Maunus, have you seen that beautiful woman?”

“I have seen.”

“You say you must get her in marriage?”

“I must, or I will not leave a stone in the place of your court.”

“Well, sit down,” said the king, “and I will tell you everything now.

“When she was growing up there came Bocaw More, of Kri-nă-Sorracha, otherwise Shamus Elevayreh, son of the King of Sorracha, and he saw her. He came and asked her in marriage. I refused him. He came again and asked her and I refused. He came the third time and she would not marry him. He told her he would be even with her. It was well till two years were over her, and Blue Niall, son of the King of Spain, came here and asked her in marriage.

“I told him what I am telling you. He said he was content with her. It was well till they were married, and when they went into their chamber, she never saw sight of him again, nor did any one else. It was very well till a year passed, and there came Feathery[3] Clerk, son of the King of the Western World, and asked her in marriage. I told him what I told the other man. He said he was content with her. When they were married and went to sleep, there was no getting him. She was in the bed, but there was no husband with her. She would not tell where he went, and we doubted that he could have gone and she not to know where. When I saw the two fine men were destroyed through her, there came on me a dislike to her, and I made her a dwelling in the garden, and put restrictions on her not to see a man, for I did not like that another man should be destroyed by her. But now, if you are satisfied, and your brother, so that there will not be blame or censure with you for me if anything happens, I will give her to you and welcome. Now, Bioultach, I will make a house, and I will put bars of iron on it from ground to roof, and I will put three iron doors in it, and seven locks on every door. I will put eight hundred men round it, and Splendour, my own son, and Splendour-of-the-Sun, and yourself at the three doors before Maunus goes in.”

When they were married, and were going into the fastness, Bioultach said to the king, “I think it is on the outside the danger will come first, and I would not like any one to be destroyed but myself; I will go on the outer side entirely.”

Maunus and his wife went in, and the men were planted round about the house. Bioultach went on the outside altogether. The day grew big with lightning and thunder, and horror came on the day. When Bioultach saw that the men were frightened, he ran through them till he came to the door. He gave his shoulder to the door, and from door to door he broke till he came inside. The woman was in bed, and Maunus was not with her.

“Ha! my good girl, where is my brother Maunus gone?”

“I do not know.”

“Tell me where he is gone, quickly.”

“Have sense.”

“Tell me at once where he is gone.”

“Oh, you will never see Maunus again.”

“I give you the quarters of heaven, of the earth, and of the sea, against my body and my soul, that unless you tell me this moment where he is gone I will put my sword through your heart.”

“Oh, Bioultach, your friendship and your protection! I cannot. But, if you are the good champion they say, take a table and place it yonder; strip yourself, and leave on you nothing but your shirt and trousers. Stand on the table and defend that hole above. If a bar had been put there at first, it would have done the business. But take with you a sword, and I will say you are a good champion if you defend the hole, and I will tell you where Maunus is gone.”

Bioultach stripped himself, and went on the table and took a sword. When the man above saw the woman was going to tell the story, “Ha! my good girl,” said he, “are you going to tell the story?”

“Oh! don’t heed him,” said Bioultach; “but tell the story, and be quick.”

“Short is the time since Maunus was here, and now he is in the Bake-house in the east, and three drops on him of the molten torrent, as he had three warnings.”

“Oh! you thief, you wanton, do you desire to tell the story?”

“My good girl,” said Bioultach, “I will defend you.”

“When I was growing up,” said the woman, “he asked me in marriage. My father refused him three times; and even if he accepted him, I would not marry him. He said he would be even with me. When Blue Niall married me he took him away, and put on him one drop of the molten torrent, as he had one warning. When, again, I was married to Feathery Clerk, he took him away with him, and put on him two drops, as he had two warnings.”

“Oh, you slut, go on with the story no farther!” said the big man.

“Do not fear,” said Bioultach,—“go on.”

“As Maunus got three warnings, on him there are three drops, and each drop goes to the bone.”

It was at this time the king came in through the men, and he saw Bioultach all red with blood.

“Oh, Bioultach,” said he, “you are killed!”

“I am not. I am coloured with the blood of the giant, but on myself there is no harm.”

“You are a good man, Bioultach,” said the woman; “I did not believe there was a man in the world would fight the giant. Now you can come down.”

Bioultach sat down till he told the king. “I do not know what you will do,” said the king. “But I will get ready a ship, and put on board eight hundred men of the pick of my kingdom, and the two champions along with you; and, on my honour, it is worse to me to part with you than with them all.”

The king fitted out the ship, and he put on board the two champions and the eight hundred men, along with Bioultach. When Bioultach went on board the ship they raised their great sails, speckled, spotted, red-white, to the top of the mast; and he left not a rope unsevered, nor a helm without * * * * * * in the place where there were seals, whales, crawling, creeping things, little beasts of the sea with red mouth, rising on the sole and the palm of the oar, making fairy music and melody for themselves, till the sea arose in strong waves, hushed with magic, hushed with wondrous voices; with greatness and beauty was the ship sailing, till to haven she came and harbour on the coast of the Land of Brightness.

That was the first place where the giant had his habitation. Bioultach and the two champions went out on the shore. “I don’t know what we shall do,” said Bioultach; “but stay, I see a small little boat coming under great rowing, and in it I see but one man.”

When the boat came to land, there came out of her a ragged green man, the top of whose head was out through his old hat, the toes of his feet through his old boots, his elbows out through his coat, and his knees through his old trousers.

“Ha, Bioultach, what likeness of adventure are you putting on yourself to-day?”

“Bad luck on you! isn’t it the same to you what likeness of adventure I am putting on myself?” said Bioultach.

“Oh, it is not equal. If I were as good as I might be, I should be beside you. But to-day let me go before you.”

“I will let you and welcome.”

“Leave the other men on board the ship, and we will go to see the giant. I will throw him, and we’ll see if you can tie him. But, sorry I am, I can do nothing but throw him.”

Bioultach and the ragged green man went into the house, and when the giant saw them he was about to be away. The ragged green man caught him and threw him. Bioultach took hold of him and tied him tightly, and brought the five slenders together, so that the toes of his feet gave conversation to the holes of his ears, and no conversation did they give him but the height of mischief and misfortune.

“Take might and mastery, Bioultach; I thought there was not a man in the world able to tie him.”

“Oh, Bioultach,” said the giant, “tightly, tightly have you tied me; ease the fastening a little at the knot.”

“Oh, Bioultach,” said the ragged green man, “it is better to sell than to buy.”

“Oh, Bioultach,” said the giant, “do not heed that thief, but ease the fastening on the cord.”

Bioultach laid his hand on the rope, to ease the knot, and out with the giant through the window, and out with Bioultach after him. When the giant was high, Bioultach was low, till the night came, and Bioultach was forced to sit down, and he wept his fill. He saw a little light far from him, and he made for it. When he came in (to the house) there was a big cat in the ashes, and she got up and smothered him with the ashes.

“May you be worse a year from to-day,” said he; and he sat down. It was not long till an old woman came down to him.

“Ha, Bioultach, it had been better for you to follow the counsel of the ragged green man than your own.”

“Bad luck to you! Isn’t it all the same to you whose counsel I follow?”

“Oh! it is not the same to me. Not on your own feet are you going since morning, but on the enchantments of the giant, and he is sailing a day and a year’s journey from you. But I have here a little boat of lead, and I will give it to you, and in whatever place, in the four quarters of the world, you order it to be, there it will be in the morning. But you will grant me a request, if you come safe; and, if you do not come, I will forgive you.”

She gave him a tablecloth: “Every time you spread it, there will be every kind of food and drink on it; and fold it when you are done.”

“Oh, I will give you any request you ask, if I come safe.”